The Ring Bearer
by Crysania
Summary: Inspired by a Tumblr post that said "If there's gonna be a Rumbelle wedding, then Roland should be the ring bearer!" Little Roland, the ring bearer at Rumplestiltskin's and Belle's wedding goes missing. I apologize for any cavities caused by this fic. (Written after 3x20)


It's a disaster. Belle just knew that it would be. Well, she had hoped. But it wouldn't be a major moment for her and Rumplestiltskin if something didn't go drastically wrong or some crisis the Charming family needed to be solved _right now_, picnic in the park or dinner at Granny's be damned. It had only gotten _worse_ she realized. While Rumplestiltskin was gone, while he was under control of the witch, they had turned to Belle for her research abilities. Now they turned to her for that and Rumplestiltskin for his magic and it seemed like they hardly _ever_ got a moment's peace.

Not even at their wedding, apparently. Though this crisis was not one of the Charming's making.

"He's gone," Robin said as he rushed into the room the women were currently occupied in. Belle had her dress on, thankfully, but noticed that Robin carefully averted his eyes regardless. She could never complain that he wasn't a gentleman through and through, despite his history of thievery.

Belle stood, held the bodice of her dress in place and rushed to Robin's side. "Don't you even tell me that. Don't. If he turns coward…"

"No," Robin quickly interjected with.

"No?"

"Rumplestiltskin is not gone. Never fear, milady. He is out there awaiting this as eagerly as you are."

She felt the relief instantly. He was there. Waiting for her. She suspected he was getting one hell of a pep talk from the good Prince Charming who had, for some reason she didn't quite understand, decided to take the 300-year-old sorcerer under his wing. He had been offering him advice, some good, some quite laughable, since the day he found out they were engaged.

"Then who's gone?" Robin had slumped into a nearby chair and Belle knelt next to him.

"Roland."

She felt instant alarm. Roland was all of four years old, the adorable son of Robin Hood. She had, once so very long ago, in another lifetime even, saved Robin Hood's life, which allowed for Roland's birth. As a way of saying thank you, Robin had volunteered his young son's services to be ring bearer. She had seen them together not all that long ago, adorable little Roland in his equally adorably tiny white tuxedo and his even more adorable black and white fedora. His unruly mop of hair, which Rumplestiltskin always mentioned reminded him of his own boy's, was still untamable, despite his father's attempts at smoothing it down with both water and a bit of spit. He had ultimately just shoved the hat on the boy and allowed his hair to stick out from beneath it.

"Gone?"

"I don't know where Belle. He was with me one moment and the next I turned and he had disappeared. Everyone is out looking for him." He looked exhausted and frantic already.

"Then go," Belle whispered. "Go find your son. We'll worry about the wedding when he's been found." Robin nodded and she nearly pushed the worried father out the door. As soon as he had departed, Belle waved Ariel over to her. "Zip me up." She turned her back to her best friend in Storybrooke. The former mermaid was acting as maid of honor and had taken that role quiet seriously, including a crazy bachelorette party at the Rabbit Hole that Belle still tried to pretend didn't really happen.

"You can't go out there!" Ariel sounded slightly horrified.

"I'll do my best to avoid Rumple"

"Belle." There was a clear warning in her voice. "It's _bad luck_."

"Only if he sees me. Which he's not going to. Now _zip_." With a sigh, Ariel did as she asked and Belle turned back to her friend. "I need to help."

She turned to leave but Ariel reached out a hand and stopped her for a moment. "I'm coming with you."

"But…"

"No buts, missy. I'll keep an eye out for your fiancé." Ariel's mischievous grin always did cheer Belle up.

"Deal," she said and together the two women departed.

While on their search, which led them to some quiet out of the way rooms in the church and to the grounds outside, Ariel kept true to her promise, shoving Belle into the bathroom at one point and at another one shouting "Incoming!" and racing on far too high heels with Belle around the corner before Rumplestiltskin saw either of them. It seemed he was out on the hunt for young Roland too. Rumplestiltskin always had a fondness for children and he told her once that Roland reminded him of his Baelfire at the same age.

It was when Belle had wandered far from the rest of the crowds and the calls of worried people faded into the distance that she heard a small sniffling sound. "Ariel," she whispered, pulling her friend close. "I think I know where he is. Just…keep an eye out here alright?" The other woman nodded and Belle stepped closer to the room furthest from all the commotion.

Yes, there was definitely a distinctive sniffling noise coming from within the room. She felt a little bad about disturbing the boy's hiding place. She well remembered needing to get away, usually hiding in the library, and being found out by well-meaning adults.

She opened the door and ducked her head in. Sure enough, there was the little tyke, sitting on the floor beneath the chalkboard. It was likely the room that was used for Sunday School and perhaps Roland had found coming back there comforting. "Roland?"

The boy's head shot up at the sound of her voice and one small chubby hand reached up to wipe at his eyes. "Miss Belle!" He sounded excited to see her but at the same time she could see the tell-tale tracks down his cheeks that indicated he had been crying.

"Can I come in?"

He nodded, just a small motion of his head. Roland adored her. She knew that, but he still tended toward being a bit shy. He seldom spoke and when he did it was in a whisper. It always made Belle smile a bit. She could remember those days of her own, when she hid behind her father's legs and struggled to find any words to speak to those who came to see him.

She had come far from those days.

Her father had too, though she'd rather not think of him. She had invited him to the wedding. She had hoped he would be the one to walk her down the aisle, but he would have nothing to do with her marriage to the "monster." He would stay home today, holed up in his flower shop and probably drinking. So she would walk herself down the aisle. No one decided her fate but her and so it made sense that she and she alone would give herself away at her wedding. She had walked out of her home in the Enchanted Forest alone with Rumplestiltskin. She would meet him alone at the altar.

"Everyone is worried about you," Belle said, putting an arm around the small boy. He snuggled in close to her for a moment and she heard his sniffling start up again. She reached up and ruffled his hair. A few tear tracks on her dress wouldn't hurt.

"I know." He looked up at her and she could see the tears in the corner of his eyes.

"So do you want to tell me what's wrong?" She offered him a small smile.

His eyes were wide but he finally nodded. Belle just waited. She had no great experience with children and a huge part of her wished that Snow was here. The woman was a natural with children, probably owing to her over 28 years as an elementary school teacher. Belle had been around children, and had spent a fair amount of time around Roland, but usually when he was truly upset his father swooped in and took care of it. "Scared," Roland finally said.

"Oh, sweetie." Belle pulled him back into a hug. "You're not still scared of Rumple are you?" She was so sure the boy had gotten over that fear. Rumplestiltskin's nearly shooting an arrow through his head was not easy to forget for one so young. He had had nightmares for several days after the events, but once Rumplestiltskin regained control over himself and started doing ridiculously flashy magic tricks for the boy, Roland had seemed to take a bit of a liking to the old sorcerer. Robin wasn't _too_ overly happy that his son was bonding with the man who once held him hostage and who once threatened his son, even if it were under the control of an evil witch, but Belle had talked him into allowing it. Rumplestiltskin had changed. Even Robin was able to see that.

"No," Roland said with a small shake of his head.

"Well, that's good." They sat in silence for a moment. "So do you want to tell me what you're scared of?"

Roland's wide eyes met hers and he nodded. He leaned forward, close to her ear, before speaking. "People." The word was whispered, conspiratorial, a secret just for her.

It took her a moment to understand his meaning. He wasn't scared of _people_. Not exactly. "There _are_ a lot of people out there, aren't there?" She wrinkled her nose at him and was rewarded with a little giggle.

"Yeah. _Lots_."

"You want to know a secret?" His eyes widened even further and he nodded. "I'm scared too."

"You _are_?" He sounded stunned and Belle tried to hide her smile, instead nodding seriously at the small boy.

"I am. All those people are here to see _me_. Do you know how scary that is?"

"Yeah," he responded with.

Belle reached up into her hair and pulled out one of the many hairpins she had there. It turned out that Ruby was a genius with hair and she had pulled it up in an elaborate style, piled high on her head with just a few tendrils hanging down around her face. Her head was simply _stuffed_ full of hairpins. One surely wouldn't cause the whole thing to fall apart. But still, she found she was holding her breath just in case, letting it out when she had the hairpin in hand and her hair had not moved.

"Do you know what this is?" she said, turning to hold it up.

"Some hair thingie."

Belle smiled. "It is. But it's so much more than just that."

Roland leaned forward, staring intently at the hairpin. "It is?"

She nodded. "It is. _This_ is a good luck charm."

The boy leaned back and gave her the most grown-up look of skepticism she'd ever seen on a child so young. "My Papa says that's not real."

"Oh but this one _is_." Belle leaned forward and whispered. "Rumple enchanted this one so that whomever wears it will be _perfect_ at the wedding." Roland's eyes went to the hairpin.

"Really?"

"Really. And I want you to have it." His eyes got even bigger and his plump little hand grabbed the hairpin and held it close to him. "Here." She took it out of his hand briefly and situated it in the middle of his mop of curls. "You have to wear it."

He nodded vigorously and Belle was relieved to see that the tears had stopped. She reached into the bodice of her dress and found one of the tissues she had shoved there in case she started crying before the ceremony. It was Ruby's idea, really, but she was thankful for their presence. Quickly, she wiped away the evidence of Roland's tears.

"Do you think you're ready to face all those people?" He nodded again. "Good, then let's get out of here. Everyone is looking for you." Belle stood and offered her hand to the small boy. He stood up with her, a grin breaking out on his face as he reached up and touched the hairpin. Belle found the hat, the one that apparently Rumplestiltskin had found and bought for the boy. Her Rumple had style and he was trying to pass it onto this small child. She straightened the tie of his white suit and situated the little black fedora onto his head. "There. Handsome as ever. The ladies will be falling all over you."

"Ew," the boy responded with. Belle kept his hand in hers and led him out of the room.

Ariel was nowhere to be seen but a few who were milling about came over to check on the boy and then scurried off to find his father. They had only taken a few steps when a rather droll voice greeted her ears.

"I had heard my fiancée had run off with another man, but I never believed the rumors."

Belle gasped and dropped Roland's hand as she turned to face Rumplestiltskin. "Rumple, you're not supposed to see me before the wedding!"

"Happy coincidence, then," he said with a smirk.

Belle tried to avert her eyes. Was it bad luck to see the groom before the wedding? She had trouble looking away though, for he did look so very handsome, the cut of his hand-tailored suit accentuating his form perfectly. "No. Not happy. It's…"

"Bad luck? So I've heard." She could _hear_ the somewhat sarcastic tone to his voice. Roland stepped forward then, just a tiny boy next to the powerful sorcerer, and tugged on the leg of his pants. "Ah, I see we've found the wee lad. What might I do for you, Sir Roland?"

Roland giggled and reached up to his hair to pull out the hairpin she had just given him. "This is a good luck charm!" he said brightly and Belle laughed. Not more than a moment before he was so very skeptical.

"Is it now?" Rumplestiltskin raised one eyebrow and he glanced up at Belle for just a moment before turning his attention to the boy.

Roland nodded. "Belle said you made it magic."

Rumplestiltskin reached out and gently took the hairpin from the boy. "Do you know how you know it's magic?" Roland shook his head and Rumple waved his hand across the hairpin, making it glow purple for a moment before the magic dissipated. "That's how."

Roland stared at it for a moment. "Wow."

"Told you," Belle said with a gentle smile. She looked up at Rumplestiltskin and mouthed _thank you_ and was rewarded with a slight bow of his head and a smile.

"Now, you need it more than I do," Rumplestiltskin said and with a small flourish the hairpin disappeared from his hand. Roland reached up under his hat and found the pin back where he had pulled it out from. He turned to look at Belle for a moment, mouth hanging open. He was always astounded by even the simplest magic Rumplestiltskin used.

"There you are!" Robin came rushing from around the corner. "Ruby told me he'd been found." He scooped up his son in his arms and held him close.

"Papa, I have a magic hair thing!"

Robin looked to Belle for a moment before seeing the amused look on Rumplestiltskin's face. "Do you now?" he said as he turned back to his son.

"He does," Belle said with a smile. "Straight from the sorcerer himself."

"It's good luck!" Roland's eyes were still huge, but there was a smile on his face too.

"It will keep him safe during the ceremony," Rumplestiltskin offered and Robin shot him a brief look of thanks before setting Roland back on the ground. There was a brief moment of awkwardness there between them all, sorcerer, his soon-to-be bride, and his once-captive. But then Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat. "Well, then I suppose we should be getting ready."

"We should." Belle reached out and took Rumplestiltskin's hand. Robin made a discreet exit, toting Roland along with him. He'd get the boy ready to go. Now that he had his magical hairpin, he seemed happy and confident and ready to face the crowd. She stepped closer to Rumplestiltskin. "Thank you."

"It's no matter." The words were spoken with a trace of a smile. She well remembered his _no matter_ from back at the castle, so very long ago.

"It _is_ though." She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Do you really think this is bad luck?"

He wrapped one arm around her, pulling her tight up against him. "Not for a moment. Besides, you have good luck hairpins."

Belle pushed at his shoulder with her nose. "He was scared. I thought it was quite ingenious."

"And it was." She could hear the smile in his voice. "And now it's truly enchanted. Roland will make his walk down the aisle with nothing untoward happening to him. A bit of a confidence boost for the tyke, I suppose."

"You're going soft," she murmured into his shoulder.

He leaned down so that his mouth was close to her ear. "Don't you _ever_ let anyone know that."

Belle giggled and gave him one last squeeze before starting to move away. He pulled her close and brought his mouth down toward hers, but before his lips could touch hers, she placed one finger over his. His eyebrows shot up. "Not before the wedding, Mr. Gold." She bit her lower lip and grinned as she danced away from him.

"Indeed," he muttered. "You'd best get ready, dear." He reached out, took her hand in his and pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand. He pulled her back to him one last time and his voice was absolutely naughty when he spoke. "The sooner we get this over, the sooner we get to the wedding night."

Belle laughed and raced off. She couldn't really argue with that one.


End file.
